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Explanation of Devices on my PC

Quartz

Posted 20 October 2013 - 06:03 AM

Quartz

Member

Member

81 posts

I bought a used "gaming" computer from someone who had it custom built & only used it a couple of months & had to sell due to financial difficulties. I use it for general internet purposes only - no games at all. (Every other computers I have owned were Dell.) This one has a Cooler Master case with a "window" on one side with a light bar. I guess this is for looks only (?). I have never seen a computer with this many fans - 6 as far as I can tell. I hope someone can explain all the bells and whistles listed below that I created with Everest software ~ which is the first program I came to when searching for something that would list everything. I have no idea if I am using all the hardware installed for maximum performance, if I even need some of the hardware, or why I have so many Display Adapters & Processors listed in Device Manager.

I would like to install an additional external or internal hard drive to use as a back up, as I am currently using partition D: for backups - which will be useless if my hard drive crashes, right? I have no idea what type to buy, what is compatible, how to install it, etc.. And, do I need more RAM installed with an extra hard drive? The guy threw in a used (older?) ASUS 24" monitor that I had to replace this week b/c it would only come on for 1 second, and this was when I would turn it off and on again. There is over-clocking software installed, but I have no idea what it is for or how to use it, or if I even need it. I greatly appreciate anyone who can tell me what (& why) all the features this computer has & will happily make a donation to pay for educating me!!

phillpower2

Posted 20 October 2013 - 11:16 AM

The computer looks in good order with only a couple of recommendations for you;

1: Familiarise yourself with the AMD Vision Engine software as you will then understand why you have more than one video adaptor, please see Here

2: Uninstall any printers and their associated software other than your own either using the correct uninstaller tool provided or through the Control Pane/Device Manager.

3: Ignore anything related to overclocking.

Other than that all looks well including the HDD partitions - any questions please ask.

Can I ask whether or not the person from whom you purchased the computer also provided the 25 digit product key for the Windows 7 installation, this is important in case you ever need to do a reinstallation.

If it was provided please keep it in a safe place and do not disclose it to anyone else, if it was not provided and you cannot obtain it yourself let us know and we will provide you with a way of obtaining it, again please do not disclose it to anyone else but make a note of it and keep it in a safe place.

Quartz

Posted 20 October 2013 - 12:31 PM

Quartz

Member

Topic Starter

Member

81 posts

No, I did not get any discs or product key. The guy I bought it from (Alan) said his uncle built the computer for him & told him that if anything failed or needed updating, he would take it home with him & fix it. When I was asking questions about the computer before I saw it, I immediately realized that Alan knew nothing about computers. The main reason I bought it was the price as he was in desperate need for quick cash at the time. I paid $400.00 for the PC, monitor, mouse, & keyboard & a 3-month old laptop, which I had no need for so I sold it for $250.00. There was no disc for it either. He wanted to buy this computer back from me a couple months after I bought it, but I felt like I got such a good deal that I would be crazy to get rid of it.

The computer looks very simple to me on the inside ~ there is a mother board, the video/graphics card (with a fan on the bottom of it), 4 RAM memory slots (2 empty), a lot of USB ports and the plugins for the mouse, keyboard, HDMI port, etc. Is a video adapter the same thing as a Graphics card? I can't understand why there are so many fans. Does the AMD Vision Engine software override the settings options on my monitor? Is AMC Catalyst Control Center what is used for AMD Vision Engine? If so, there are a lot of options that I don't understand such as LCD Overdrive, Pixel Format, Create Custom HDTV Resolutions, Enable GPU Scaling, Scaling Options (Underscan & Overscan), Enable ITC Processing, Adjust Fan & Clock Speed for Graphics Card, etc. I have NO idea what settings I should choose. I also don't understand what the AMD High Definition Audio Device and High Definition Audio Controller are. Are they built in with the Graphics card? And, there's also Realtek High Definition Audio. How do I know what I am using, or what should I use? There is also the option to Enable or Disable AMD Radeon Dual Graphics. Which do I choose, and why? I can also change the Desktop Properties, but have no idea what I should select here either. I have a Dell flatscreen that connects with the cord with blue pins on each end, but when I connected it to this computer when the monitor went out last week, the computer didn't recognize it. It seems to me that I should be able to hook up both monitors since I have what seems to me to be a "high-tech" Graphics card.

Should I buy an external hard drive to put my backups on? Or, an internal one?

I realize I am asking for a lot of info. Believe it or not, I could fix most everything on my Dell computers & install new sound cards, graphic cards, extra memory, etc. & even worked on computers for other people. But, technology had advanced greatly since those days, and I lost now trying to figure out what is what and what it does!

Again, I will gladly pay you if you can educate me about all the options. If it would help, I could send you a photo of the inside of the computer, if I am allowed to upload photos here. Even better would be if you can connect to my computer remotely and look at all the options there are on the AMD software. Is this possible? I live in a town with ONE red light and there's no place here that I can get info or help. THANKS!! Cindy

phillpower2

Posted 20 October 2013 - 03:50 PM

phillpower2

Tech Staff

Technician

20,025 posts

The easiest way to retrieve your product key is to run Belarc Advisor which is available from Here Please note that I am not asking for the key details only ensuring that you have them for yourself for the future - the resulting information is for yourself only.

Is a video adapter the same thing as a Graphics card?

Yes.

I can't understand why there are so many fans.

Your friend may have been overclocking which generates more heat and so requires a better cooling system.

Does the AMD Vision Engine software override the settings options on my monitor?

No it helps the AMD video solution perform better.

Is AMC Catalyst Control Center what is used for AMD Vision Engine?

CCC is for video cards/video chips whereas Vision Engine is for AMD CPUs that are capable of also producing video.